Holding On Too Tight
by SamGreg
Summary: Sometimes holding on too tight isn't good enough. Sometimes holding on too tight only leads to heartache. Sometimes it's easier just to let it go... CarterXDana/One shot/SOAverse/Post Forever Red Disclaimer- We do not own anything except our own concepts... We wish we owned the characters but we don't...


_**Holding On Too Tight**_

**Sometimes holding on too tight isn't good enough. Sometimes holding on too tight only leads to heartache. Sometimes it's easier just to let it go...**

**CarterXDana/One shot/SOAverse/Post Forever Red**

The Rescue Rover slowly descended into its designated spot in the tech lab, the overhead lamps and lights being turned off before the engine itself; knowing that when Carter Grayson arrived back each of the five Rangers, who were currently exiting the vehicle at lightspeed (living up to their names perfectly) - apart from Leo Corbett, who looked more anxious as he climbed reluctantly out of the car, awe colouring his features as he had yet to see in the interior of the new Aqua Base after the original's demise two years prior- would have to face up to the Red Ranger's temper and attachment to his beloved vehicle.

The driver of the Rover forced the keys into her jacket pocket before joining her three team mates in hanging them on their designated pegs. Each Ranger was formulating a reason to not be present for when their leader and the Titanium Ranger arrived back, the Red Ranger no doubt would be fuming.

Joel Rawlings turned to the nervous looking Lost Galaxy Ranger, "Leo man, if you follow me, my wife can beam you up to Mirinoi." He wrapped an arm around the shorter man's shoulders, "You don't want to be around for the tongue lashing Dana's going to get."

"_Me?!_" Dana said over her shoulder as she was now registering the Rover's return on the screen monitor on the far wall. "How's that fair?"

"You drove it-"

"Because I'm the only other person who knows how! _You guys forced me to!_"

"You stole the keys."

"_Again_, you guys forced me to! It was your idea Joel!" Indignation clear in her slightly shaky voice, "_You_ deal with him!"

"And because he's less likely to kill you." Dana sent a glare across the room to Kelsey Winslow, as both her and Chad were slowly backing into the lift that lead to dry land, "It would be like yelling at a child or a puppy; he'd get embarrassed."

"Plus, you're the baby of the group, only fair. He's not exactly going to kill his girlfriend." Joel chuckled as Dana turned her now constant glare to him, leading Leo off in the direction of the larger tech lab.

"Hide out in the rec-room, it might give you an extra five minutes." Chad told her as the lift doors began to close, "Good luck!"

Dana estimated the Rescue Cycle would be in the transferring tunnel by now, giving her under a minute to run to the third tower where she could either hide out in the rec-room or her quarters (when she wasn't staying at her own home in Mariner Bay town of course). She was still undecided which would be safest from Carter's wrath but she didn't have long so quickly ran from the tech lab in that general direction.

* * *

The door to the rec-room hissed open causing Dana to stiffen.

She averted her gaze from the television screen (_'Team Up Of Red Rangers Spotted After Secret Mission'_; clearly Tommy didn't know how to keep missions low key) to be met with a very angry looking, red faced man. Dana bit back the grin that was forcing its way forward, earning a glare from the man in question.

"I'm glad you find this amusing because I really don't." Carter's tone was sharp which made Dana grin a little more, "That was _humiliating_! And in front of all the Reds?!"

She fought back the urge to comment about trying to look tough against his 'little friends' as she knew, from personal experience, that he wasn't that tough and was actually quite sensitive when you got below the 'Firefighter come Superhero' exterior.

"It wasn't my idea..." The giggle she tried to hold back kept pulsating forward and in an attempt to extinguish it, she coughed a few times, "I was just the getaway driver."

"I didn't see you trying to stop them." He stood in front of her and held out a hand, "Keys."

"In my jacket."

"If there is even a single scratch on her." His cobalt blue eyes narrowed down on her azure blue ones, "I will personally kill you all." He straightened to his full six foot four inches, "You shouldn't have taken the keys! More importantly, how the hell did you get them?!"

She pursed her lips and looked down at her hands, which were now unconsciously wringing themselves, "Pickpocketing." A sense of innocence was clear in her voice, "I took a guess in which pocket, poked you in the chest to be sure and just slid them out of your pocket and threw them over to Chad."

"Well you have an exciting career prospect as a criminal if medicine never works out." The glare on his face only growing wider which made her feel quite intimidated- like a child being told off in school, his tone dripping in scorn,"If you dare do that again-"

"You'll what?" She stood up rapidly, pushing him back lightly so he was a couple of steps away. She met his glare with one of her own, "Put me on the naughty step? Take away my toys?"

"_What?_" The anger in his eyes faded into clear confusion, Dana just shaking her head and walking over to turn off the television, but before she had a chance to, Carter spoke again more sharply, "No, don't just walk away- _what did you mean?!_"

"You're treating me like a child." Carter's face coloured red as the anger returned to him, every feature, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears, were now flushing a violent red. "We took the car to teach you a_ lesson_."

"I don't treat you like a child-"

"Oh really?" She scoffed, "I don't see you fathering the others. There were five of us in on the plan and here you are yelling at me!"

"I don't treat you like a child." He repeated with more emphasise, "What lesson?!"

"You do Carter!" She turned around to face him, "You speak down to me, explain things like I'm a six year old who wouldn't understand and constantly try to patronise me! You treat me more like your baby sister than your girlfriend!" She raised her voice to drown out the television, "And in front of the Red Rangers you seemed embarrassed by me-"

"I was embarrassed that you guys randomly showed up and planned that stupid prank."

"That's not how it seemed like Carter." She spat with outrage, "You don't even realise you're doing it because you're too freakin' busy with the Rover!"

"Well maybe if you quit acting like a child then I wouldn't have to-"

"I don't act like a child." She threw her hand up in frustration, extending her finger in his direction, "You just-"

"So stealing the keys and driving off wasn't childish?"

"Maybe if you hadn't lied about what you were doing! Christ Carter, you went to the moon and fought robots yet told me you were delivering something from Angela to Eric and Wes over at Angel Grove!" She stomped her booted foot onto the ground, realising, however, she was probably contradicting her point about not acting like a child in doing so.

"I didn't want you to worry!" Running his hand through his hair, he turned his back to Dana to walk to the metal counter, bending down to get a cool water bottle from the mini bar.

"Well you jacked that up didn't you? I am twenty, I can handle the truth." She was pretty sure she had seen Ryan in the hallway through the porthole listening in. Choosing to ignore her eavesdropping brother, she pressed on, "You could've died up there and then what?!"

"Well I didn't."

"That's besides the point; you _could've_. It was reckless Carter! I thought you were past constantly aiming to get yourself killed when we retired as Rangers!"

"What was I meant to do?! Tommy got into contact with me and all the other Reds, even the freakin' alien! Was I meant to say _'Sorry, no can do, my girlfriend has put her foot down. I can't help save the world anymore. Maybe you should try contacting another Ranger, unless you want to ask for her permission_!' I didn't realise that I had to check with you before I did things anymore. And you are a fine one to talk about being reckless; who went up against Ryan on her own or with Memorase?!"

"That was different!"

"I'm failing to see how."

"You could've told me the truth!"

"I'm sorry for protecting you then!" The sarcastic tone lacing his voice pushed Dana over the edge; she grabbed the nearest object, the television remote, and threw it straight at his back with accurate aim and power, causing him to turn around and look down at the object. "_And that isn't childish."_

"I don't need protecting Grayson! You could have freaking died!"

"I could die at any moment! Heart attack, stroke, accident, hit by a car- are you going to stop me doing other stuff then?"

"The moon Carter. If you had died-"

"Wouldn't you be happy then? No more being treated like a child!" His hand slammed down onto the metal counter, "Isn't that a great idea? You know what, maybe I should go open the tomb and get Queen Bansheera to kill me! _Would you be happy then?!"_

As soon as the sentence had left his lips, silence fell in the room (besides a small gasp coming from the hallway, which was deduced down to Ryan). Even the noise from the television stopped; the pair stared at each other from opposite ends of the room, waiting for the other to break eye contact first.

A lump formed in Dana's throat, her breathing slowing to an unsteady pace as tears began to sting her eyes and, in turn, blur her vision; seeing her reaction, Carter turned away whilst kicking himself for the final comments. "I'm sorry." He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, "I didn't mean-"

"If that's how you feel." Her voice shaky and almost on the verge of breaking, "Then it's best we end it all now."

Before he had a chance to protest, the door hissed open and shut with the silence taking over once again, sans Carter's breathing which was now heavy, his heart beating almost out of his chest. He became enveloped in his own thoughts consequently replaying the final moments of the argument over in his head, whilst not only feeling guilty for allowing it to reach a crescendo which lead to her becoming more upset than necessary, but also mad at himself for not chasing after her...

* * *

Dana slouched in her Dad's chair, looking over everything at his desk as the tears had finally dried up after just over ten minutes of straight crying.

Thankfully, the office had been vacant when she left the rec-room, after what was probably her worst argument with anyone ever, and had taken five minutes to consider somewhere to be alone.

Her room would be obvious. Ryan would come looking for her, or worse, Carter attempting to continue the fight and she didn't want to be anywhere that people went in and out of, so her fathers office appeared to be the best choice as long as she didn't have to explain to him why she was in such a state- the man didn't need any reason to dislike Carter considering they had still yet to tell him they were dating... And it had been two years now.

The desk was littered with papers and she took it upon herself to tidy up for her dad; it would, after all, distract her from her thoughts long enough. She'd sorted through the scrap papers before her eyes fell upon a picture of her mother; the young, blonde woman in a wedding dress with a younger version of her father at her side.

She'd seen this picture many times growing up, but she hadn't ever noticed the love and sincerity in both their eyes- she was the love of her father's life, hence why he had never remarried after her death nineteen and a half years ago, and he was hers.

In front of the picture was a small, rounded deep pink gemstone. It was no bigger than a quarter, the colour strangely captivating against the dark oak table top. Having never seen it before, Dana was instantly intrigued, picking it up and inspecting it closely. A swirl of pale pink broke up the deeper pink, a few flecks of gold and pearl pieces were also encased in the cold hard exterior. The surface was smooth against her finger tips, a slight comfort coming from running her thumb over the top and turning it over in her hand.

She rose from the chair (stone still turning in her hand) and walked to the mirror, wincing at her reflection whilst pressing the stone into the palm of her hand tightly. She wiped under her eyes with her thumb, the trails of dried up tears disappearing, but nothing could be done for the evident redness in the whites of her eyes.

Roughly combing her fingers through her hair in a final attempt to neaten it and straightened her pale pink blouse; she wouldn't let anyone have the slightest idea that she had been crying (the redness could be put down to a bout of allergies suddenly flaring up).

She couldn't help but ponder whether the stone had been her mothers.

Why else would her father have it? But if it had been, wouldn't she have seen it before like when she had seen her mothers jewellery box when she was younger?

Either way, Dana was strongly drawn to it, opening her hand to look at it once again. The more she peered at it, the more she decided it was definitely her mothers; pink was, after all, a signature colour for her mother as much as it was for her.

The door hissing brought her attention back, shoving the stone into her skirt pocket and looked over to the door where the red clad man was standing looking sheepish.

She looked away from him almost as quickly as she had looked over, the coldness from the stone radiating through the lining of her skirt onto her skin causing a tingling sensation.

"Can we talk?" He stepped into the room, letting the door shut behind him.

"No."

"_Day_-"

She sighed, walking up to him, "You were right, it was childish and you're a grown man-"

"I should have told you the truth. You're not childish and I guess all Rangers are a little reckless, it's like a trait of the job-" Dana smiled slightly as the Red Ranger continued to babble nervously, "And I guess the car thing was kinda funny..." She went up on tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, him bending slightly so she could bury her head in his neck as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him.

"I'm only protective over you because I don't want to lose you-"

"There's no chance of that..." She said into his neck, "But Queen Bansheera-"

"I only said that to hurt you, I'm so sorry." His grip tightened, chin resting on the top of her head, "It was a plain stupid thing to say and you can hate me for it-" He continued to babble again, Dana laughing slightly into his neck, "I don't want to lose you Day- I love you so much."

"I love you too." She whispered, tightening her hold on his neck, "Even if you are an idiot."

"Forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me." She pulled back, pressing her lips to his.

"Always." He pulled her away from him before dropping his hold on her to meet her eyes, "And I promise next time I'm going to get myself killed, I'll let you know."

"Good." Her hand pressing against his chest, feeling his heart beating beneath it, quick and unsteady, "You were nervous." She smirked as he laughed.

"Well, I didn't know whether I'd get a door slammed in my face-"

"The doors are automatic Carter, I can't slam them."

"Or told to forget everything ever." He covered her hand with his own, "Nervous didn't even begin to describe it." Dana noticed the bruising and cuts on his hand, looking back up at him from his chest.

"We'll just forget the fight okay? Ryan overheard so don't be surprised if he asks-"

"He already did; _'Why were mummy and daddy fighting?'_ Wasn't in the best mood for his humour."

"Did you get your injuries checked?"

"You volunteering?" He winked suggestively but Dana ignored the hint behind it and rolled her eyes as she withdrew her hand from his chest and began to leave the room. "What were you looking at when I came in?"  
_  
The stone_, she'd forgotten it was there! "Nothing." She smiled softly looking back over her shoulder, "Let's get you sorted." With a sultry note to her tone that lead to Carter following her out of the room. The door hissed shut behind the pair, keeping their conversation enclosed in the four walls.

_P__rivate and their secret._

_**Fini.**_

* * *

**SAM: Yo guys! Howz life? Same old? Cool. Well I'm gonna hand over the reigns to Greg for this one because she was the writer so I'm gonna munch and make sarcastic comments as she writes to put her off- see ya in a bit!**

_**GREG: See what I have to put up with? So not fair. Anyway :'D. Sorry for the late *cough* 3 weeks *cough* late update... Basically we were on study leave then we were gonna update last week but I've been M.I.A the whole week-**_

**SAM: I.e She dead.**

_**GREG: SHUT UP AND MUNCH! STOP GIVING AWAY STUFF! THATS NOT FOR A FEW CHAPTERS! *Regains composure* So, where was I before IT rudely interrupted... Oh yeah; so three weeks late... Whoops. Sorry. Sam is being so sarcastic right now that I am tempted to throw the glue pot, that is next to me, on her head. Hmm... **_

_**So... Carter and Dana... I like them as a couple... They're so cute and heavily hinted at but you never find out if they did get together... Though, Legendary Battle... Arriving together... Suspicious~ . Totally married. End of. Don't crush my dreams. And in 'The Last Ranger' when Carter's memory restores, there is a scene which could kinda be classed as a date by some.. Ice cream to the face! Sam&amp;I decided that was a date, not a very romantic one but hey, its a date.**_

_**In case you're confused, this takes place directly after the last chapter of 'What Really Happened In Forever Red.' so you may wanna read the final chapter for context... Just a suggestion because it might be confusing.. It's not necessary but it'll help you understand more... :'D **_

_**And did anyone spot the Easter egg we put in? They're in all the stories so far so if you haven't noticed... SHAME ON YOU! Joking, but yeah :'D They tie in with our main story... Coming up after the next one shot :O So soon ! Wow :'D!**_

_**So, imma answer the reviews from the last chapter... MWUHAHAHAHAHA**_

_**CarterlovesDana: **_

_**Congratulations on the new niece! That's so cute! It was actually Sam's birthday that day, she reminded us (Chuck&amp;I) for weeks in advance then didn't stop the whole day! Irritating but we let her off. :'D Well, here was the Carter/Dana one- sorry if its disappointing but I tried... :'D Gold star for effort? xD But yeah, I hope you liked it :). Awkward Ryan is amusing... I think it kinda suits him... Hey, short reviews are better than no reviews :P. Thanks for the review!**_

_**Dash master 48:**_

_**Aww, shucks thanks :). We try our best when it comes to our writing skills and reading many fanfics by amazing authors has helped us improve... You have no idea how many drafts of 'What Really Happened When Carter Came To Get Cole.' we had before we sent it to our beta and how many extra people we had read through it because we weren't confident with our writing skills. If Sam hadn't have pressed the publish button, I doubt I'd have been able to put any of the stories so far up. **__**I think liking Power Rangers depends on the groups for me, Sam however appears to like every single one but, in her words, 'there are some teams I'm not too bothered about.' (Lightspeed was one of them... We clash over that because its the series I remember the best and liked the best...) **__**Leo and Kendrix are pretty cute and it was sad when she died... but hey, she came back so maybe her and Leo did really get their happy ending? **_

_**I think that's it... I ramble a lot... Like... A lot. :'D I don't think we'll be updating this Friday because we updated today... *Shrugs* Sam isn't here now to ask, she abandoned me for a lesson... We'll see.. Maybe Matchmaking Mishaps might end up updated? Regardless, we'll be updating NEXT Friday with our Mayla (Merrick and Shayla from Wild Force) one shot and then the week after that it's our main story.. If you've been reading them all, thanks :P The wait for the main thing is almost over... I'd love to give a preview but I'm not allowed 3; I'm excited for it and I hope that you are too!**_

_**Thanks for reading! And I hope you liked it! Or at least, didn't hate it xD. See you next time!**_

**SAM: Hiii back from my psychology lesson~! But Greg's done and yeah, ditto to all that and hoped you liked it and if you haven't read our previous stories, do so, and... I think that's it. Thanks for reading, get ready for Mayla and BYYYYEEEE!**


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